<nettime> [Fwd: Schell Mail #48 -- What a Week]

[Mike Weisman <popeye@speakeasy.org>]

PaulSchell@MayorSchell.com wrote:

> It's been a long, hard seven days.  Once things began to heat up on Tuesday,
> I found myself leaping from discussion to discussion: from the White House
> to the Direct Action Network; from Director-General of the WTO to the
> President of the AFL-CIO; from community and business leaders in Capitol
> Hill and downtown to members of the City Council.  My thanks go to many,
> many people for their help in de-escalating what could have been a much
> worse situation.
>
> Several thousand delegates and media from 135 nations convened for the
> Ministerial. 40,000+ protesters took to our streets in demonstrations that
> were, for the most part, peaceful. The President of the United States, the
> Secretary General of the United Nations,  the US Trade Representative, half
> the US Cabinet, and 40 Congressmen all attended the conference.  In the end,
> the right to free speech was upheld, thousands expressed their disagreements
> with the WTO, and the business of the conference was carried out in full. No
> one was killed. No one was seriously injured.
>
> But the city is hurt. Feelings of anger, embarrassment, grief, and blame are
> running strong.  The need to answer questions with clear facts and to
> carefully and objectively review what happened is imperative. We cannot heal
> without it.  And we owe it to other cities on this planet who may well face
> future versions of these unprecedented circumstances.
>
> I am therefore calling for a complete review, this week, of the security
> planning that led up to last week and of the incidents that took place on
> the streets of Seattle during the week itself. This review will involve the
> full coalition of law enforcement agencies that participated in creating the
> security plan we put in place in preparation for the WTO.
>
> The purpose is not to point fingers or lay blame, but to understand, to
> learn, and to move forward.
>
> What developed on Tuesday was more than anyone expected. Protest group
> leaders themselves were surprised.
>
> We knew who was coming. We were well prepared for the nature of the protests
> and the type of civil disobedience that was to be employed. But we did not
> anticipate the sheer volume of protesters that would arrive vehemently
> committed to unlawful civil disobedience.  With an authorized organized
> labor march of over 35,000 going on at the same time, the mass effort to
> intentionally break the law by clogging streets and blocking entry to the
> WTO meetings meant that our public safety resources were seriously strained.
> When a third group began to damage property and commit other acts of
> violence, our police officers were forced to choose protection of human life
> over protection of public property.
>
> I commend them with all my heart. Given the situation they found themselves
> in and the size and emotional intensity of the crowd they faced, our
> officers behaved with heroic restraint, professionalism, and courage.  My
> gratitude extends, not only to Seattle's own officers but also to the many
> officers from other jurisdictions, to the National Guard who assisted us
> during that long, difficult week, and to the many others who stepped forward
> as well.
>
> We have much to do in the coming days. All the details of what happened and
> at what time and under whose direction must be clarified. Rifts between
> communities must begin to be repaired. The air must be cleared. The city
> must get back to business, and begin to heal.
>
> In fact, the healing is already underway. It began Saturday morning when
> this whole city poured into downtown to resume the holiday season in full
> Seattle color.
>
> Last week was a test of all of us. In a different society we could have
> enforced a WTO Ministerial in which the delegates knew next to nothing about
> the opinions held by so many members of the public. But that is not our
> society.  In a democracy we must depend on the fundamental social agreement
> of civil behavior. This is the hallmark of an open society.  Last week it
> was put to the test.
>
> And it survived.
>
> *****PLEASE HELP BY DISTRIBUTING THIS MESSAGE TO OTHERS*****
>
> more later...paul
>
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--
Please respond to:
Mike Weisman
popeye@speakeasy.org

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